Are we at the very end?

We have all met them.  The enthusiasts in church who believe the Lord's return is coming very soon.  They will point to the news and say that we have evidence of 'the signs of the times.'  I have usually responded with a 'maybe', and then given the rather patronising observation that every generation has had such 'signs of the times', and that in fact there were other moments in history where it might have seemed more likely that the Lord was just about to return.

I am reading Mike Bickle's book entitled, Growing in the Prophetic.  I am finding it fascinating.  It is full of good practical advice on how prophetic ministries should function.  But Mike believes that we are in the very end period of the last days.  I am not fully convinced.  Yet I have found myself convicted of the fact that I have not lived with an expectation of the Lord's return.  I am guilty of not contemplating the possibility that it could be soon.  I have not let the fact that it could be sooner than I expect affect the way I live.